First Drive

What is it?

This is Opel's, and in a couple of years' time, Vauxhall's, new electric family car. In mainland Europe, beginning with electric-friendly Norway and followed next by Belgium, Holland and Germany, it replaces the original Ampera, of which so much was expected but which sold in small numbers.

There's no centre tunnel, the seating position is MPV-high with lots of rear leg room (in fact, more in this Vauxhall Corsa-footprint car than in the bigger Astra), and there's a decent 381-litre boot extendable into a 1274-litre cargo bay by folding the rear seats' backrests down. The bonnet, doors and tailgate are made of aluminium, the whole car weighs 1691kg, and with 201bhp and 266lb ft of torque on offer from its engine, the latter from zero rpm, it promises to be a lively machine.

Inside, all the trim panels and the dashboard are hard to the touch but easy enough on the eye. The front seats are trimmed in part-perforated leather, the rears in similar-looking vinyl, and the floor is completely flat. The dashboard is dominated by an 8.0in display ahead of the driver and a 10.2in infotainment screen, the latter housing sat-nav, the usual settings menus and graphics revealing how and where the car's electric energy is flowing. The smaller display includes range, state of battery charge, an indicator showing the rate of current loss or gain of charge, and the speedometer.

It all looks quite Tesla-like, and there's a raft of connectivity including Apple CarPlay, Android Auto (one or other supplies the sat-nav) and GM's OnStar services system. An induction-charging system for the vital smartphone is standard, and the usual suite of safety and parking-assist systems is also present. This is a well-equipped car.

It's also a quick one, with a ballistic getaway if asked and – in an exact match with the BMW i3 – the ability to go from 0-62mph in 7.3sec. It is claimed also to surge from 50mph to 75mph in 4.5sec. but the pace runs out at 93mph to conserve battery charge. Overtaking and slotting into traffic streams are instantly effortless processes, made more so by an almost-silent drivetrain and, on Norwegian roads at least, little road roar. A new viscous coating system inside the Michelin tyres helps damp tyre resonances, but more useful is that it permanently seals penetrations of up to 6mm diameter without loss of pressure. The puncture-proof tyre has arrived, it seems.

Freshly charged, our test car showed a predicted range of 369km, or 229 miles. After a normally-driven test route of 137 miles (including bus lanes, which electric cars can use in Norway) there were indeed 92 miles left, showing the prediction to have been uncannily accurate. One way of maximising the range is to manually activate extra regenerative braking by pulling and holding a paddle on the left of the steering column, and with practice and anticipation you can dispense with the footbrake – which itself uses regenerative braking until extra 'real' braking is needed – entirely. The paddle activates the brake lights, of course.

It's all very impressive, and rather likeable. One snag, though, is that the heater, which uses rather low-tech electric elements, is very unresponsive.

Join the debate

Freshly charged, our test car showed a predicted range of 369km, or 229 miles. After a normally-driven test route of 137 miles (including bus lanes, which electric cars can use in Norway) there were indeed 92 miles left,

Surely GM/Opel/Vauxhall have made a big mistake by not launching this car in the UK!!
Almost twice as many electric cars were sold in the UK last year compared to Germany, where the local car industry seems to be stuck in the fossil fuel past.